video games

Video games make for great GIFs, especially when you isolate some of the crazy, surreal aspects of gameplay. Like these GIFs made from a video preview for Wattam, a long-awaited game from the creator of Katamari Damacy, a wacky, yet twee cult-fave Playstation game with an objective of rolling over other objects in a toy-size universe.

No fences:This May, the European Commission will unveil its plans for a single digital market in the EU. [Courthouse News Service]

Wisconsin Governor—and presidential hopeful—Scott Walker wants to slash $300 million in funding to the University of Wisconsin schools. You know who’s not happy about this? University of Wisconsin President Ray Cross, who has announced that he will resign if the governor’s cuts stand. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

The people have spoken, and they want George Carlin. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will unveil a photographic portrait of the late comedian today. Carlin’s portrait was chosen, in a public vote, over those representing comedians Ellen DeGeneres and Groucho Marx. [Variety, National Portrait Gallery]

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos—immortalized by the YouTube hit “Hot Cheetos and Takis”—has been approved as a healthy snack in some state public schools. The revised, whole-grain version has already hit Chicago. [WBEZ]

Okay, who can name book-sculpture that doesn’t ferry off cheeseball connections between text and the mind? Because these 25 “most incredibly beautiful book sculptures ever” are terrible—and the site doesn’t even name the artists. [Earthporm]

Rhizome’s Seven on Seven line up this year is off the hook: Nate Silver (fivethirtyeight), Ai Weiwei (activist artist), Jacob Appelbaum (Wikileaks representative and Edward Snowden confidant), and Gina Trapani (co-founder of ThinkUp). And the ticket price is sooooo reasonable, at $40 for artists and $125 for regular admission. [Rhizome]

Technology for poo-flingers? “Have you ever wanted to pick up your poop and throw it at the wall? No? Oh, well, we have. Quite a few times actually…. Anyways, Bathroom Simulator is the game where you can do that.” Since this writing, the game’s Kickstarter campaign has raised $114. [Bathroom Simulator]

“Axel Brechensbauer 3D-printed a cheerful-looking UAV that would playing loud ‘clown music’ and spray ‘terrorists’ with a cloud of Oxycontin, a pain-relief drug that also induces feelings of euphoria, relaxation and reduced anxiety.” [We Make Money Not Art]

A review of Alberto Toscano and Jeff Kinkle’s ‘Cartographies of the Absolute’ cataloguing artists’s attempts to create ‘maps which could serve to show us where we are located, to guide us to capital’s weak points, and to indicate current and future dynamics.’ [The New Inquiry]

What a weird story: An investigator who does not know who her client is, has been making inquires about an NYU professors who criticized the university for the exploitation of migrant workers building their campus. The same investigator also sought out information for a New York Times reporter who wrote a story on the harsh conditions. Creepy. [The New York Times]

It’s hard to play the CD-Rom games of our youth. Even some of the most well-known ones have suffered the fate of many commercial releases: here for a season, then gone the next. Wanting them back—it’s not just a matter of needing some keyboard nostalgia; it’s about historicizing gaming.

Four men attempt to wrestle a bear. Lesson learned? Bears are great wrestlers. [YouTube]

Just what we needed—another art fair. Independent Projects opens November 6, in just over a week. It’s held in the old Dia building, site of the Independent fair held in the spring. Expect solo booths from a motley bunch of dealers ranging from Bushwick’s’ finest to Upper East Side mainstays like Gagosian. [Independent Projects]

If you care about other people’s personal lives, the Internet has a story for you! Famous CBC host Jian Ghomeshi claims he was fired because of his private BDSM lifestyle. Is this the next level of discrimination? Add a vengeful ex-girlfriend to the mix and we have 50 Shades of Grey meets Gone Girl. [Facebook]

Look, we don’t know what happened, really. However, according to the Toronto Star, three women 20 years his junior have come forward over the last few months claiming that Ghomeshi forced them to engage in nonconsensual, violent sex. [Toronto Star]

A lesson in public shaming (and one of our favorite reads from over the weekend): Monica Lewinsky pens an insightful essay that brings up an important question. Where were all the feminists when she was dragged out in front of the press? [Vanity Fair]

According to OkCupid, people in Montana, Oregon, and Wisconsin take fewer showers than anyone else using the dating site. [Slate]

What is hipster photography? Marco Bohr provides a fascinating and detailed description. Typically, the genre depicts people who look happy and carefree and are often joined by others who look the same. These people are young, good looking, and often white. They are almost never in suits. Perhaps most interesting, though, is that Bohr observes a lack of class identifiers in these pictures, positing that what these images really project is class mobility through the knowledge of what’s “cool.” Naturally, these images are meant to be shared. [Visual Culture Blog]

The University of Texas at Dallas is investing in a $17 million art history institute emphasizing data analysis. [Dallas Morning News]

In Sweden, artists who exhibit in state-run museums must be paid a stipend. That’s the rule, but plenty of institutions have been evading payment. [The Art Newspaper]

The Conscientious photo portfolio competition 2014 deadline closes October 31st. This is a competition aimed at emerging photographers and offers an interview on the site. [CPH]

Another dead white male artist joins the ranks of Gagosian. The Estate of Walter de Maria is to be represented by the gallery. [The Art Newspaper]

Developer Lucas Pope, the brains behind Papers Please, the best game of all time about stamping passports, has released a demo for what will hopefully be an equally stressful, smart strategy game. [Return of the Obra Dinn via GamesBeat]

Over the last 13 years, the U.S. government has spent $7.6 billion on counternarcotics measures in Afghanistan. It’s great, then, that opium production there is higher than ever before. [Slate]

“A year ago I started Critique My Dick Pic, a blog that is not safe for work unless your workplace is chill.” [The New Inquiry]

Threshold Entertainment, the people behind those Mortal Kombat movies from the 1990s, are partnering with the makers of Tetris on a live-action Tetris movie. “It’s a very big, epic sci-fi movie,” claims Threshold CEO Larry Kasanoff. As you probably remember, Tetris is a puzzle game about stacking blocks. [Future Tense via The Wall Street Journal]

A new piece by Constant Dullaart works on the false assumption that all Instagram followers are equal. He’s bought followers on Instagram and assigned them to specific Instagram accounts in order to “level influence.” Engagement levels of these followers aren’t mentioned once. This project doesn’t do much more than illustrate bad business practice. [ARTnews]

In a Medium story, a teenager accuses a 29-year-old Brooklyn “alt-lit” editor of rape. Other teenage girls come out with similar stories. [Gawker]

Want: Trip to Iceland. The National Gallery of Iceland is opening the “Vasulka Chamber,” a research department devoted to preserving video art and new media. The chamber is named after Woody and Steina Vasulka, founders of the Kitchen. [e-flux]

Artist Tony Fitzpatrick sure can tell a story. In his latest Dime Story column for New City he recalls a period of time he spent bartending for a rather unsavory cast of characters: “[The bar] was full of bikers and mechanics and hard-labor guys who didn’t much like the ‘college pukes.’ They scared the shit out of me, and I was careful to keep my head and learned the gentle art of cutting people off when I sensed trouble. This was a culture full of the white people we don’t put on the brochures, with guys named Orville and Roland, a lot of wide foreheads and disappearing chins. I swear some of these guys were their own uncles.” [New City]

Because nobody knows how to make decisions without advice from the Internet, here’s a venn diagram on how to pick the perfect office plant. [The Huffington Post]

New Yorkers, be on the lookout for the results of tonight’s Rent Guidelines Board meeting. Tonight, they decide whether to freeze rents for the thousands of tenants living in rent-stabilized apartments. [Capital]

Across the pond, Nicholas Penny has announced his retirement as director of the National Gallery of Art in London. [ArtsBeat]

After years of budget cuts, inner-city schools are slowly reintroducing art, music, and gym classes. The reason? These subjects encourage students to stay in school. [NPR]

What a great find: Feminist novelist Kathy Acker interviewed the Spice Girls in 1997. Marxism, racism, and anger ensues. [Venus Radio via @longreads]

If Kim Kardashian’s entire life sounds like a video game to you, you’re on the right track; she just released an app where you can learn how to be a paparazzi queen. [The Daily Beast]

Julia Halperin surveys performance art collectors and finds that performance still remains one area of the art market where art-as-an-investment has yet to kick in. [The Art Newspaper]

Art Basel closed yesterday. Most of the work was sold long before Sunday, though, mainly in the first few days. [Art Slant]

Well, this defies common sense. In an effort to clean up the J, M, and Z train lines, the MTA has decided to remove all but one trash can from the Brooklyn stations. Get ready for some summertime grossness! [The Brooklyn Paper]

According to the Times, the last time it was this cold in the city on Jan. 7th was 1896. Got that? It hasn’t been this cold in 117 years. Now for the news:

It’s time to dust off your vocal cords and try out for The Bruce High Quality Foundation University’s spring musical adaptation of “West Side Story.” Seriously you are not too old to flutter about a stage in spandex. Choreographers, lighting designers, and props managers positions will need to be filled, too, so there’s bound to be a role that suits you. [BHQFU]

Art critic Jonathan Jones makes another half-assed argument. He got a Playstation for Christmas and he still thinks video games are not art. Why? “Electronic games offer a rich and spectacular entertainment, but why do they need to be anything more than fun? Why does everything have to be art?” Those are questions, not reasons. [The Guardian]

“So when is it time to say ‘farewell to dance’?” asks Yvonne Rainer, grande dame of conceptual dance, film, and performance. She discusses accommodating older dancers (like herself). [MIT Press]

Coco Fusco is now dressing up like Dr. Zira from Planet of the Apes; most recently she gave a lecture in full-costume at the Studio Museum for their showing of Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art. [Daily Serving]

Marlise Munoz is brain dead and on life support, and despite her stated wishes, John Peter Smith Hospital in Austin Texas won’t end her life. She was 14 weeks pregnant and the hospital claims that taking her off they would be violating Texas law. [The New York Times]

The New York Times has redesigned! And the verdict is good. No more endless scrolling with the dim hope of navigating your way to the arts section. The website now has a header menu. [The Internet]

Happy 65th Birthday to the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston! [CAMH]

Damien Hirst made a Mickey Mouse painting (made out of dots, of course) for an upcoming Christie’s charity auction. The painting is … underwhelming. [The Telegraph]

LUX, in Dalston, London is looking for a new Distribution Co-ordinator. Deadline for apps is Monday, January 13th. [LUX]

It’s time to dust off your vocal cords and try out for The Bruce High Quality Foundation University’s spring musical adaptation of “West Side Story.” Seriously you are not too old to flutter about a stage in spandex. Choreographers, lighting designers, and props managers positions will need to be filled, too, so there’s bound to be a role that suits you. [BHQFU]

Art critic Jonathan Jones makes another half-assed argument. He got a Playstation for Christmas and he still thinks video games are not art. Why? “Electronic games offer a rich and spectacular entertainment, but why do they need to be anything more than fun? Why does everything have to be art?” Those are questions, not reasons. [The Guardian]

“So when is it time to say ‘farewell to dance’?” asks Yvonne Rainer, grande dame of conceptual dance, film, and performance. She discusses accommodating older dancers (like herself). [MIT Press]

Coco Fusco is now dressing up like Dr. Zira from Planet of the Apes; most recently she gave a lecture in full-costume at the Studio Museum for their showing of Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art. [Daily Serving]

Marlise Munoz is brain dead and on life support, and despite her stated wishes, John Peter Smith Hospital in Austin Texas won’t end her life. She was 14 weeks pregnant and the hospital claims that taking her off they would be violating Texas law. [The New York Times]

The New York Times has redesigned! And the verdict is good. No more endless scrolling with the dim hope of navigating your way to the arts section. The website now has a header menu. [The Internet]

Happy 65th Birthday to the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston! [CAMH]

Damien Hirst made a Mickey Mouse painting (made out of dots, of course) for an upcoming Christie’s charity auction. The painting is … underwhelming. [The Telegraph]

LUX, in Dalston, London is looking for a new Distribution Co-ordinator. Deadline for apps is Monday, January 13th. [LUX]

In every “We Went To” post, we leave out a handful of shows that don’t leave much for the imagination or discussion. By now, we figure that ignoring them doesn’t help anyone. This week’s skippables: James Fuentes, Blackston, and Participant, Inc. Those we included: Simon Preston Gallery, Invisible Exports, and Joe Sheftel.